Poets Arundhathi Subramaniam, Nabaneeta Sen and Soubhagya Mishra to be honored with Mystic Kalinga Literary Awards of 2017

Mystic Kalinga, an international festival of poetry and performances, is an emerging platform of poets and performers designed to promote young mind’s participation in art, culture and creative dialogue with the past, present and future. The First Mystic Kalinga Awards will be conferred on Arundhathi Subramaniam, Nabneeta Sen and Soubhagya Mishra. This has been instituted to recognize and celebrate three prolific writers, poets and performers in Odia, in one Indian language and in one international language. The awardees have been chosen keeping in mind their contribution to their specific language and genres.

Mystic Kalinga Literary Award, 2017

Mystic Kalinga Literary Award in an International Language: English- Arundhathi Subramaniam

Mystic Kalinga Literary Award in an Indian Language: Bengali-Nabneeta Dev Sen,

Mystic Kalinga Literary Award in Odia: Soubhagya Kumar Mishra

Arundhathi Subramaniam is an award-winning poet, artist and an eminent writer on spirituality and culture. Over the years she has worked as a poetry editor and curator, and as a journalist on literature, classical dance and theatre. She has four published books of poetry and has contributed to various collections, magazines and journals. Arundhathi won the first Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry for her work When God is a Traveller at the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2015.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen is an award-winning Indian poet, novelist and academic. Sen has published more than 80 books in Bengali: poetry, novels, short stories, plays, literary criticism, personal essays, travelogues, humour writing, translations and children’s literature. Her short stories and travelogues are a rare combination of fine humour, deep human concern, and high intellect, which has made her a unique figure in the Bangla literary scene. She has won the Sahitya Akademi Award and has been conferred Padma Shri for her contribution to Bengali literature. She has recently won the ‘Big Little Book Award’ for her contribution to children’s literature.

Dr. Soubhagya Kumar Mishra is a leading award winning Odia poet. He has been writing poetry since 1955 and has published 11 volumes of poetry.. He was awarded both Central and State Sahitya Akademi Awards for his poetry. He has also received two other important awards, the Sahitya Bharati Sanman and Gangadhar National Award for his contribution to Odia literature.

World renowned mystic and yogi Sadhguru will inaugurate the Mystic Kalinga. Central Theme of Mystic Kalinga is Transcending Boundaries. Central theme of Mystic Kalinga is derived from the Odia word “Aseema” which in English refers to Transcending Boundaries. Aseema (also written as Asima), is also used in Sanskrit and Hindi. In Odia Asima, (ଅସୀମ), means having no boundaries. Translated into English it refers to limitlessness, indefinite, boundless, universal and unlimited.

Announcing the festival, Mystic Kalinga – Director and Founder, Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida said, “Literature has the potential to connect a divided society and it can transform self-centeredness to world-centeredness. Kalinga Literature Festival was launched in 2014 to celebrate this potential of literature. Mystic Kalinga, an international festival of poetry and performances, emerged out of the need to connect to people’s hearts through poems, songs, dances and meditations”.

About Mystic Kalinga and Kalinga Literary Festival

Odisha Diary Foundation (ODF) and Odisha Media info Service (OMIS) Private Ltd is organizing annual Mystic Kalinga and Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) every year to celebrate this creative spirit of Bhubaneswar and commemorate the literary diversity it offers, bringing it in conversation with the best minds in the world of literature within and outside of Odisha and India. Academics, authors, political and social activists, law makers, government officials, corporate leaders, students and people from all walks of life immerse in the vibrant atmosphere of the festival and exchange opinions on their favourite authors and works. KLF has emerged as an Annual Flagship event in the cultural calendar of Odisha and our focus is to rekindle the romance with literature and foster reading and writing habits, especially among the youth. It offers a national platform with a global appeal and bridges the gap between literature in English and other Indian regional languages.